


Guarnere and Benedetta, South Philly to Bastogne, 1936–1945

by newredshoes



Series: Easy With Daemons In [7]
Category: Band of Brothers, His Dark Materials - Pullman
Genre: Alternate Universe, Crossover, Gen, WWII, daemon AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-01-23
Updated: 2010-01-23
Packaged: 2017-10-06 14:28:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,335
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/54666
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/newredshoes/pseuds/newredshoes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He knows who he is and he ain't ashamed of nothing.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Guarnere and Benedetta, South Philly to Bastogne, 1936–1945

Always makes Bill smile to think of how it was after Bennie settled. Here he is, thirteen and the baby of ten, and he elbows his way to the table and there his ma gives him the hairy eyeball. Bill's focused on getting his share of breakfast, but then his ma says, "Billy, Benedetta's been the same for a whole week now," and all the Guarneres go a little quieter, which was always a miracle by its own self. Bennie sits up straighter, so her nose and eyes poke over the table, and Bill finishes chewing his toast and says, "Yeah, I guess she has been." And then Henry grabs him around the shoulder and gives it a rough squeeze, and asks him why's he always gotta be such a showoff, and then Bill's ma comes and kisses him on the temple and all his brothers and sisters start teasing him, and Bill ain't never felt so right in all his life. So people get ideas about a guy with a hyena. Let 'em think, they need the exercise. He knows who he is and he ain't ashamed of nothing.

*

He's always been good at reading people. A few minutes, that's all he needs, and already he's sure of how they'll get along. The trick is watching. Bill gets a lot of practice with this at Toccoa. Guys come in, they wash out, always the lineup's changing. They got everybody in the paratroops: pick a name, Bill can tell you all about him. Take Bull Randleman. Here's this hayseed from Arkansas, got a goddamn wild pig for a daemon, big fella, kinda awkward. Bennie walks right up to her, and by God if she don't just stand her ground and stare back. Bill's sure he'll be glad to have them on his side when the time comes.

It don't always work: he's as human as God made him, and he makes mistakes. Winters confuses him — he's a good man, but how a Quaker wound up with a wolf, Bill don't know yet. Bennie says the guy'll surprise them, just you wait, but Bill don't particularly appreciate surprises when it comes to combat, understand? Still, in general he's liking who he sees. Take Joe Toye: man don't settle with a wolverine for nothing. Take Malark: guy with an otter knows how to have some laughs. Take Shifty Powers: him and that hunting dog, you never saw a more honest sonofabitch.

Sobel and that goddamn swan, though, them he could do without.

*

The dames in London, holy Christ! If ever there was a place to have a den of iniquity, this was it. Bill loves it: they're aggressive women here, and him and Bennie can take them all on. Some guys got their daemons working for 'em — Ed Tipper and that tabby cat of his will charm the broads right out of their skirts. Smokey Gordon, with that songbird and Southern accent, you should see 'em line up! Bill likes to see who'll look him in the eye. One lady he goes to, name of Phyllis — she reminds him of Frannie, and they even got the same jaybird too. Boy, did he work at her, but when she caved, goddamn, what a night.

*

What was he expecting when he saw the Kraut army? Doesn't matter, wasn't this. You see 'em in the newsreels and the propaganda and it's always strapping blonds with Dobermans and vultures. First kill Bennie made, in that lane the night they jumped, she caught a rabbit by the neck and bit right through it. Chuck Grant and his Lois, he could barely look at them for a week. But you move past it. You don't dwell or you're dead. War is a son of a bitch, and so is he, and that's what's going to get them through this.

*

Some Toccoa guys find it hard to take the replacements seriously. They did all the same training, they got their wings and supposedly know their shit, but Jesus, you look at them and they're kids. Bill don't care, he knows he'll have them fighting with him and so he demands all the same things, treats them same as everybody else, for the most part. So they need some nudging here and there, so what? That's what an NCO's for. They take care of people.

He keeps his eye out, though. There's some likely suspects among the new faces. Take that Heffron kid. South Philly born and bred — Bill knew he'd like him right away. Kid gets stopped in the mess, and what's he do? He stares Bill down, and so does his squirrel daemon, nose to nose with Benedetta. Made him laugh then and it makes him laugh now. Babe Heffron, he'll do all right.

*

Jesus, after that hospital, is he glad to see Mourmelon. One goddamn motorcycle accident and one goddamn broken leg — sure as hell doesn't deserve to be shut up in a place like that. Bill gets it why the guys go AWOL before the docs say they're healed up: who wants to stick around someplace so lousy with low spirits?

The only good thing about that place was no one there knew his jokes already. Sure, he's got some new ones when he's back with Easy, but it's mostly groans he gets in response. (That's nice in its way too. Noemi, Luz's mockingbird, still lands on Bennie's head and parades when George one-ups him — or ten-ups, as he claims. Bennie shakes her off and Noemi lands someplace else. It's a good routine. They've had it in place forever.)

"You'd think a guy like you could tell a better joke," Luz says while the rest of the fellas hoot with laughter.

"Hey," says Bill, laughing himself, "like my old moll here says, someday we'll surprise you."

*

There's no telling who Bastogne'll make loopy first. Johnny Martin, he digs in with his badger like the cold and the German line are a personal affront he's gonna outlast out of spite. Edie, Liebgott's mink, seems permanently wrapped around his neck, so much so that she don't even react anymore when Bill asks if they had a good time at the opera. Alma is pacing a lot more, no matter how still Winters sits. Hoobler's goddamn raccoon plays in the snow when it's quiet.

It's Bennie notices it first, even before Babe pipes up: whenever Buck Compton comes around, she'll stare at Gert, who never sits down and never stops scanning the woods, ears pricked. Bennie will shoot him a look once they turn to leave. "I don't wanna hear it," Bill will snap. Bennie huffs, but she don't say nothing, she's just lookin' at the bloody tracks Gert's cracked feet leave behind.

*

That Hashey kid says the Krauts are giving them a shellacking, and Bill ain't arguing, 'cause every single time, it's a hell of a barrage. They'll charge through the entrenchments, yelling for the boys to take cover, and if they ain't fast enough, goddamn but Bennie'll help 'em along. That's just another day on the line. It's their job, that's all. Bill's never cared what people thought of him, but he's going to get as many home alive as he can and that's always been his word.

*

That's all that's on his mind then. Toye's hit, gotta get him out of there. When it's your buddy, you don't think, you do. Bill's dragging Joe, Bennie's dragging Ella, Buck's yelling for them to hurry up.

_Wham._

Malarkey, Babe and Lip, they're the ones that come running. Doc Roe, God bless him, knows his job and he does it. Clementine stands guard over the severed legs, blocking Bennie and Ella: they got bigger things to worry about.

*

"So," she says, pressed alongside him in the hospital bed. "You're a cripple now."

"Hey," says Bill, propping himself on his elbows to look her in the eye. "Fuck you."

Bennie grins. "Yeah," she says, and noses beneath his ear. "That's what I damn well thought."


End file.
